Sustainable and resilient futures
AS we leave the immediate impacts of Covid-19 behind us and gaze towards a much more hopeful horizon, we are ready to embrace the challenges to come. If 20202022 was about ‘coping’ with the emerging crisis of a pandemic, then the subsequent years are going to be about adaptation and mitigation.
As I have written before, emerging from this crisis gives us the opportunity to think afresh about how we live our lives and what strategies we can deploy to rebuild better.
At the top of the agenda must be how we can build more sustainable and resilient futures. Recently, two examples in one week struck a chord with me. On the positive side, I witnessed again a host of amazing Malaysian industries demonstrating their commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGS).
I can see tangible progress as businesses take brave steps to plan for a more liveable future. The recent signing of a memorandum of understanding between Petronas and Tenaga Nasional Berhad to advance efforts in support of Malaysia’s aspirations to be a carbon-neutral nation by 2050, was one great example.
In the same week though, I learned that our dependence on single-use plastic rocketed during the pandemic, reversing the momentum of years-long battle to reduce plastic waste pollution. By August last year, there were eight million tons of pandemic-associated plastic waste generated globally, with more than 25,000 tons entering the ocean. We saw a steep decline in carbon emissions caused by our cars during the various periods of lockdown. To those of us back in the daily commute with bumper-tobumper traffic jams, this is but a distant memory.
In terms of the economic impact of Covid-19, those at the sharpish end of poverty felt the hardest effects. Governments stepped in and worked hard and fast during that period to ensure help was responsive, with record amounts spent on social assistance programmes. In the early days, there were disruptions to food supply and access which compounded hunger.
The closure of food banks and other sources of food aid due to movement control orders also meant that people in need may have struggled to access support. With many more millions entering global poverty during this period, the longterm impact is one that we need to closely monitor and be responsive to.
The University of Nottingham Malaysia’s research agenda is focused on many of these pressing issues. On Sept 7 to 9, we hosted the Food Systems in Small Islands and Developing States conference. This event brought together academics and professionals with the common goal of improving the resilience and adaptability of food systems in small islands and developing states in the Asia Pacific region. For these maritime nations, the relatively small size of their land and their economies give them a unique set of vulnerabilities that make their food systems particularly sensitive to shocks.
This conference gathered the growing multidisciplinary community of academics, policymakers, professionals and industrialists to build on the lessons learnt and advance the discussion on achieving food systems resilience in the face of turbulence.
Later in the year, we will host the 1st International Conference on Water and Environment for Sustainability on Dec 7 to 9 to coincide with Asiawater 2022, the region’s leading international water and wastewater event in Asia.
Sustainable management of global water and environment issues is fundamental for the achievements of all the 17 UNSDGS that can positively impact our world and provide a better future for all, including the improvement to the quality of life.
To achieve this, we need strong cooperation and coordination amongst scientists, researchers, engineers, industry players, managers and policymakers. The conference will therefore provide the platform for leading experts to share ideas on how to address the world’s pressing water and environmental issues.
Events without action though are not enough. That is why so much of our university’s research is focused on sustainability and so too are our relationships with partners from outside the academy. In the coming year, we will be working hard to make sure this research continues to inform our teaching so we can inspire change in the next generations. But we will also use our research to contribute to public and policy debate and action. It is through events such as the ones above that this will be made more possible.